Sundance Partners With Kickstarter & Facebook To Support Artists

In an effort to increase audience engagement with filmmakers via digital distribution and communication methods, Sundance has begun what promises to be a set of fruitful partnerships with the two popular web networks.

In an effort to increase audience engagement with filmmakers via digital distribution and communication methods, Sundance has begun what promises to be a set of fruitful partnerships with both Kickstarter and Facebook. Kickstarter, the crowdfunding campaign site co-founded by Yancey Strickler, will provide branding, promotional and educational support to the nonprofit institute to help usher filmmakers further into the digital era. The company already began by hosting workshops for filmmakers this past week in the midst of the annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

Robert Redford, in a press release, had this to say about the partnership,

“Technology now allows filmmakers to fund and make films in ways we could never have even conceived. Just as we did 30 years ago, the Institute is responding to a need, with a responsibility to help the individual artist,”

Sundance will also provide support for Kickstarter via promotion for projects through the site. They will encourage artists they work with to not only utilize the site to promote their own projects but to also support fellow filmmakers by funding their campaigns as well. In the press release, the institution also stresses that crowdfunding campaigns would allow filmmakers to retain not only ownership, but creative control over their work.

Facebook will also be lending a hand by offering advice as to how filmmakers can successfully engage audiences through their site. They too offered workshops during the festival providing attendees hands on experience with different apps and site properties.

The partnerships are intended to be a stepping stone for the institute as they plan on developing more workshops, classes and programs as to educate filmmakers on the increasing importance of digital services in not only distributing their work, but creating it as well. As the face of filmmaking changes, the tools and techniques Sundance wishes to share have become essential to success.